color pencils
by alice hattercandy
Summary: Of colors, pencils, notebooks. And maybe, just maybe, a beginning of something beautiful.


**title.** color pencils**  
note. **THIS IS (FUTURE) CANON FTW OYEAH XD XD (originally posted in mock tales but... oh well. things changed. XD)**  
**

**disclaimer. **nuh-uh, BLEACH is not mine ever, including the line "the secret to perpetual youth is perpetual motion."

_.

* * *

The class droned on and on. It seemed endless. Like Inoue Orihime's beautiful inner universe where penguins and cannons rule the world.

But unlike the rest of the class, Orihime was not bored. This was Orihime after all, who can find happiness in the desert, who'd find beautiful things in the most boring things, who'd hope for Endless Supply of Red Bean Paste and Sweet Potatoes with Butter, who'd believe in Endless Love and All, who will keep believing and trusting and loving and smiling despite the pain, hurt, distress and hopelessness.

She was never bored. She was never motionless.

_Aha! The secret to perpetual youth is perpetual motion!_

She bit her lip and diligently continued her work. Time to time, she'd look up, look around and study her surroundings. Watching the normalcy around her, a smile tugged at her lips. It was weird at first, to be back, to be a student again, to hold a pencil in her fingers, to sit on her sturdy chair, to feel the hard wood of her desk under her palms, to be surrounded by _people_. But she was definitely glad (teary-eyed and giddy and starry-eyed) that the Winter War was over, and Aizen was nothing but a (soon to be) distant memory, Kuchiki-san and Renji-kun were safe and back to where they belonged, and (she heard, and no, no, she was not eavesdropping!) that an able shinigami was dispatched to patrol the reishi-rich Karakura for stray Hollows.

Still smiling to herself, she glanced around, looking at every face she can see. Everyone seemed to be dozing off to their individual dreamlands. Tatsuki-chan looked bored; a cheek resting on her palm as her fingers expertly twirled a mechanical pencil; Ishida-kun was busy and diligently scribbling some notes; Sado-kun looked like a statue; and Kurosaki-kun…

Her cheeks flushed and quickly, like a zap of lightning bolt from an Alien Ship, she dropped her gaze to her opened notebook.

Lifting a pencil from the pile at the corner of her desk, her smile, that could melt the darkest scowls and annoyed frowns, widened until a dimple appeared on her left cheek. Orihime eagerly continued to work in silence. The page where her notebook was opened was filled with colorful caricatures of Kurosaki-kun's scowling face. There was a strawberry head with a scowling face, an alien head with a scowling face, Kurosaki-kun's face with a moustache, another face with an afro wig, another with –

"Inoue."

Ichigo, Sado, Uryuu and Tatsuki were among the students who curiously glanced towards the blissfully oblivious auburn-haired teenager who was hunching over her desk, furiously scribbling. They raised a brow. What was she doing?

"Inoue."

Ichigo glanced at the teacher from the corner of his eye, and then back to the girl. She looked like she was having fun in the middle of a boring class, which didn't surprise him. She was grinning, her eyes in bright twinkles. This girl was always in motion, always smiling, always finding things amusing and worthy of her attention. Tatsuki, deciding it was best time to intervene before Inoue could further embarrass herself, reached out and poked the girl on the arm with the blunt tip of her pencil.

The girl looked up to her. "Uh? Yes, Tatsuki-chan?" The dark-haired girl nodded her head upwards, gesturing towards the teacher. Orihime caught on and turned her head.

"What are _you _doing?" asked the teacher.

Orihime offered a bemused look. "Um… taking down… notes?"

"With _color _pencils?"

Large gray eyes blinked. "Oh." And then, a wide, sheepish smile spread across her flushed face as she rubbed the back of her head. "Yup, sensei!"

Shaking his head, the teacher continued. "Fine. Just answer the question Number 15 on the board."

"Hai."

The class droned on and on.

_.

Finally, class ended. The classroom burst into excited chatters.

Ichigo lazily stood up, quickly and clumsily gathering his things before –

"Ichigoooo~ let's go and have some good time togetheeeer!" Kiego cried out, jumping on Ichigo. Instinctively, the orange-haired boy lifted his fist and Kiego's face slammed into Ichigo's forearm. There was a loud crash.

"Hai, hai. Asano-san, what are you doing on the floor?"

"Damn you and your formality, Mizuiro!"

Ichigo casually glanced around, catching a glimpse of auburn in the corner of his vision. He looked at the doorway blankly, shook his head and walked towards the same doorway. He paused, however, when he glanced at Inoue's desk.

He arched a brow. Inoue, in her haste, must have forgotten her notebook. Casually strolling towards the girl's desk, he took the notebook, his eyes unreadable as he stared down to it. Her reiatsu lingered all over the object, basking it in its warm embrace, the same warm reiatsu that lingered around his wrist until now. Behind him, Kiego followed Mizuiro out, sulking about 'super-powered friends who abandoned their normal friends'.

He recognized the notebook as the same thing Orihime had diligently scribbled on with her color pencils. Why she used color pencils was beyond him, but at the same time, he didn't find it strange. His frown lifting slightly, he was about to put it inside his bookbag, making a mental note to give it to her first thing in the morning tomorrow, when the owner came rushing back inside.

A look of surprise crossed his face, replacing the frown.

Her gray eyes were wide, and her cheeks were red as she gasped, "K-K-Kurosaki-kun!"

"Hey." The boy recovered, frown flitting back in place as he lifted and waved the notebook. "You forgot your…" He moved it to flip it open to know what subject the notebook was for, but he was startled when Orihime suddenly switched to a pouncing stance, crying out a shrill and embarrassed "no!"

Ichigo raised his hands, "Okay… Okay… No need to… try and tackle me, Inoue." He averted his gaze. "Here," he thrust it to her trembling hands. Orihime quickly took it from his hands and hugged it closely to her chest, her face bright red, her mouth slightly parted as she breathed raggedly.

"S-Sorry… I overreacted, Kurosaki-kun! I… I… Sorry!"

"Nah. It's okay." Orihime made a disgruntled, incomprensible noise, her auburn hair spilling over her face. Ichigo tilted his head to the side, "What?"

The girl lifted her gaze, her lashes fluttering. "Ano… Did you…" Her blush covered almost the whole of her face and neck. Ichigo raised a brow, "…um. Did you…"

"If you're trying to ask if I opened and read it, no, I didn't."

The girl gave a stiff nod. "Right! Kurosaki-kun would not do such thing!"

Ichigo studied the girl quietly before saying, "…It seems that… that's a very important notebook."

"Yes, it is!" replied Orihime with shocking enthusiasm.

"Why?"

Another blush attacked her cheeks, matching her hair. Ichigo's frown deepened curiously.

"It's… It's… It's… It's…"

"You know what? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No!" Ichigo jumped back in surprise at the volume of her voice. "I mean, this notebook," She lifted it in the air with both hands, nodding fervently, "contains all the techniques and secrets of The Blue Alien Invasion! Also, this contains my… my… my c-counterattack plans!"

Ichigo nodded slowly. "Alright…"

"So…" She hugged it closer to her chest again, her head bowing. "Don't… Um…"

"Okay, okay. I won't ask."

The girl bowed low. "T-Thank you!"

"Yeah. See you tomorrow, Inoue."

She nodded eagerly, beaming at him. "H-Hai! See you t-tomorrow, Kurosaki-kun~!" It seemed to catch him off guard, that beaming smile. But he smirked a little, a frown still wrinkling his forehead and walked off, leaving her alone inside the classroom.

Orihime heaved a big, deep sigh of relief. _Yatta… Thank goodness! _Carefully, she slid the notebook inside her bookbag. _That was close! _She was about to leave the room when she noticed a lone notebook on top of Ichigo's desk.

_Eh? Kurosaki-kun must have forgotten it…_

She went over to retrieve it and told herself to run as fast as she could after the boy to give it back to him. As she reached out to snatch it off the desk, she found out it was opened and her gaze fell on the pages.

Her eyes widened, her body was stiff.

A whole page was covered with repeated messy scribbles and childish doodles of her name and what she can make out as her hairpins.

…

…

"Crap! I forgot my notebo… Inoue?"

Stunned, she lifted her gaze from the notebook.

There he was, tall, stiff and awkward; standing by the doorway, a hand on the doorframe, his chocolate eyes wide with trepidation.

…

…

"…Kurosaki-kun."

* * *

**additional notes**:

inspired by… um… when i was a little girl with silly crushes i usually spent time doodling my first name with my crush's last… oh, stop. I'm embarrassing myself! :3 thank you for reading, guys!


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